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Green Global Assistance

Denmark has more than 40 years of experience in retrofitting and greening its energy system. The experience that Denmark has acquired through the years now serves as a catalyst for other countries to transform their energy systems as a means to reach the obligations that was pledged at COP21.

The Danish Energy Agency cooperates bilaterally with seven emerging economies consisting of China, South Africa, Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, Ukraine and Turkey. The cooperation is assisting the countries in their transition away from polluting greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time maintaining stable economic growth.

Why: Combining sustainable energy with viable growth

Denmark pledged during COP15 in Copenhagen to assist emerging economies in their low carbon transition in order to reduce the global emissions of greenhouse gasses. Denmark both provides funding and technical assistance to support these countries to transform their energy sector. This assistance is provided by the Danish Energy Agency, which holds unique Danish policy, planning and regulatory experiences regarding employment and integration of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. The aim of the assistance is to transform the energy system to make it more sustainable, while at the same time maintaining economic growth. The Danish Energy Agency’s assistance provides global guidance to enable partner countries to prepare for future growing energy demands by making the energy sector more diverse, stable and sustainable. The assistance is based on Denmark’s long-standing experience in the energy field.

What: Green government-to-government assistance

The primary focus of the Danish Energy Agency’s global assistance is anchored in government-to-government cooperation. The goal of the government-to-government cooperation is to enhance the energy regulating authorities of our partner countries in their transition towards a low carbon energy sector by bolstering the framework condition of the regulating authorities. In the light of the Paris agreement on COP21 in December 2015, the government-to-government cooperation is primarily supporting the implementation of the National Determined Contribution (NDC) that the different governments committed to in Paris. The main focus is on measures and advice to improve legislation, development of new regulating policies and technical assistance in comprehensive energy planning based on data analysis, modelling and scenario work.

The government-to-government cooperation is not just to promote green transition towards renewable energy and concrete energy savings and emissions reduction, but also to promote institutional capacity building. It is a focal point in the Danish Energy Agency’s assistance to build up capacity for the authorities to enforce and regulate the energy sector in an efficient and comprehensive way. The large focus on capacity building is to insure that the assistance is sustainably anchored in the respective authorities and to assure that the employees has the necessary training and skills to enforce the regulation of the policy.

As a secondary focus of the Danish Energy Agency’s government-to-government cooperation is to expand market for Danish energy products and solutions. Danish green-tech products are in high demand among our cooperation partners and as a result the Danish Energy Agency assist Danish companies in establishing contact to relevant companies and authorities in our partner countries. This may open up for more trading collaboration both directly and indirectly to the benefit of all parties.

Where: Emerging economies

The Danish Energy Agency’s assistance concentrates on emerging economies where the potential of reducing greenhouse gasses in the energy sector is the biggest. International scenario analyses indicate that climate and environmental issues, energy security, diversifying energy sources, resource efficiency and the ability to make long-term energy planning will be focal priority areas in the global energy markets of the future. As a result, many emerging economies are facing a huge energy transition to become cleaner, more efficient and more flexible while maintaining security of supply. The Danish Energy Agency has pivotal knowledge on how to make a green energy transition while sustaining economic growth. Since 2012, the Danish Energy Agency has shared these experiences through energy sector programmes specifically customized for the demands of the cooperating government.

Today, the Denmark cooperates with China, Mexico, Vietnam and South Africa through the Danish Energy Partnership Programme. Furthermore, newly initiated cooperations with Turkey and Indonesia has been established through the Danish government’s Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) as well as a cooperation with Ukraine anchored in the Neighbourhood Programme.